


take care of those you call your own

by darksideofmyroom



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Character Study, Christmas, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Peter Parker Has a Family, Peter Parker-centric, implied Ned/Peter, sorta - Freeform, this is really nostalgic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 06:46:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17157206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darksideofmyroom/pseuds/darksideofmyroom
Summary: Peter’s earliest memory is of Christmas lights.





	take care of those you call your own

Peter’s earliest memory is of Christmas lights.

It’s actually not much of a memory as it is a flash of colour, a taste of a feeling.  
Peter’s earliest memory is a second frozen in time, it feels so far away and sometimes he doubts it was even real. But he can see them so clearly: blue, red and green hues lighting up a small Christmas tree, he can feel his mother’s arms around his body, her hair brushing against his cheek as it slips away from behind her ear, and he knows that he truly did live in that moment.

Peter has a pretty good memory, but it’s not the photographic kind. He remembers names, facts and formulas so easily, but he can never summon the faces and the places, they remain blurry and uncertain.

The Christmas lights are the exception.  
That particular image remains so vivid in his mind, and it keeps coming back to him.

It’s like an old photograph that he keeps on his desk, and it never fails to catch his eye.

Peter’s earliest memory feels like sitting in front of a fireplace, being captivated by the flames as they dance around and feeling warm, safe.

Peter watches the twinkling lights with big, innocent eyes, and he listens to the sound of his mom’s voice, he can smell her perfume.

It brings him great comfort to think about it, when his mind gets loud.

 

Uncle Ben helps him set up a Christmas act for May, when he’s nine.

The idea comes to him on December 24 and it’s obviously a little too late, but Uncle Ben tells him not to worry, they’ll make it work. And Peter believes him, he always does.

They work on some kind of script, which is to say the least not very original and has way too many Christmas songs in it (Peter wanted to sing all of his favourite ones), but they don’t care, and neither will May.

Their cast includes three of Peter’s stuffed animals and an action figure of Iron Man, and when they finally perform for May on Christmas Day, they manage to completely change the plot of the story, and end up improvising the whole show.

May claps and cheers for them once they finish, and Uncle Ben lays a hand on his shoulder and smiles down at him so brightly.

Peter feels _loved_.  
He knows that he’ll never feel as much love as he does right now, and he’s never been so thankful for that before.

 

The first time Peter ever goes ice skating is with Ned.

As soon as he steps foot in the rink, he manages to slip and fall right on his butt.

Ned hides his smile behind his scarf as he helps Peter up, and he really tries not to laugh but it’s a well known fact Ned isn’t well acquainted with self control, and soon enough they’re both chuckling.

Ned holds out his hand for Peter to take, and he helps him off the ground. Peter’s own hands are ice cold, as he forgot to bring his gloves, so he doesn’t let go of Ned’s grip even when he’s standing.

“I guess skating isn’t my thing”

Ned pats his back “We still have plenty of time to see if that’s true. C’mon”

As it turns out, skating is, in fact, not Peter’s thing at all, and by the end of the day he fell and went crashing against people too many times to count.

It doesn’t matter though, not really.  
Ned keeps laughing all through the afternoon and most importantly, he keeps holding his hand.

 

It snows, the first Christmas Eve without Ben.

May and Peter have lasagna for dinner and they wear their silly red and green Christmas sweaters and they watch the Grinch curled up on the couch, just like they’ve always done.

It’s not sad, Peter doesn’t feel alone when he sits in front of the window with May and they watch as the snow falls down and the streets become whiter and whiter under their eyes.

He still feels loved when she places a kiss on the top of his head and holds him tight to her chest, he still feels warm, still feels safe.  
He can hear her heartbeat and he knows she’s enough. She’s the only family he has left but she’s enough, she’s what he needs.

But when she whispers “Buon Natale” to his ear as midnight strikes, it doesn’t feel like Christmas.

There’s an empty space that he can’t ignore, a presence that lingers and he can’t shake off the sensation that nothing will ever be quite as perfect as it was before.

“Buon Natale” he tells May, and to Ben, he thinks  _I miss you._

 

Happy texts him at six, he tells him he’s waiting in the car and to hurry up.

Peter picks up his bag, which is filled with presents and cards, and makes his way outside.

“Mister Stark!” he exclaims, surprised to see the man standing there, waiting for him.

He rushes towards him to hug him and slams harshly against his chest.

Tony huffs a breath, surprised at the impact but he doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around Peter and ruffle his hair.

“Hey Pete” he says fondly “What’s up?”

“You didn’t tell me you were coming!” he smiles as he pulls away from the hug.

“Why, was I supposed to?” he wraps an arm around Peter’s shoulder “C’mon, get in the car. Pepper wants us to help in the kitchen and I honestly don’t want to make her wait, you know how she gets”

Peter smiles, a warm feeling expanding in his chest rapidly, until it reaches his limbs.

“Thank you, Mister Stark”

“What are you thanking me for? You still haven’t even seen your gifts”

“Y’know, inviting us over for dinner, that’s- I really appreciate that”

Tony looks at him for a second, his eyes narrowing as he studies Peter’s face.  
“You’re already getting all sappy on me. Kid, you know I can’t handle that”

Peter answers by leaning further into his side, resting his head on his mentor’s chest.

Tony sighs, and his expression softens noticeably.  
“Of course I invited you, Peter. You’re family. And uhm…people usually spend Christmas with their family, or some crap, so yeah”

Peter chuckles at Tony’s struggle, but he keeps the words close to his chest.

“That was very eloquent of you, Mister Stark” he teases, a grin on his face.

Tony puts on his best offended face and slaps Peter’s arm jokingly “Oh you’re a brat, you know that?”

“Eh, it doesn’t matter. You love me anyway”

Tony rolls his eyes “Yeah, I do”

Peter smiles at him, affection shining in his eyes.

 _They’re family,_ indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas y’all! Hope you’re having a nice day with your loved ones, and that you’re enjoying yourselves.  
> Let me know what you thought about this if you’d like, and thanks for reading!  
> Happy holidays and lots of love!


End file.
